The tulip, from the genus Tulipa , is a bulbous herb in the lily family cultivated in temperate regions for its showy blooms. Native to Central Asia and Turkey, tulips are popular garden flowers with numerous varieties. Tulip cultivation likely started in Persia (Iran) in the 10th century and became a symbol of the Ottoman Empire. They were introduced to Western Europe in 1562, marking the start of the horticultural tulip industry in Europe. Tulips are perennial plants that die back after flowering and persist as an underground storage bulb. They produce bluish-green leaves and bell-shaped flowers in a wide range of colors, except true blue. Almost 4,000 horticultural varieties have been developed, with classification schemes based on bloom time, flower shape, and plant size. Though cultivated tulips are abundant, some wild species face endangerment due to habitat loss and climate change.

Where are tulips originally from?

The tulip is a bulbous herb with about 100 species in the lily family. Tulips are native to Central Asia and Turkey. Tulip cultivation likely started in Persia (Iran) in the 10th century, eventually becoming a symbol of the Ottoman Empire. Around 1550, tulips were introduced to Europe from Turkey. Carolus Clusius, a French botanist, cultivated tulips in his botanic garden and is often credited with spreading other spring bulbs across Europe.

What do tulip flowers look like?

Tulips are perennial plants that emerge in the spring with two to six thick, bluish-green leaves clustered at the base of the plant. The bell-shaped flowers usually have three petals and three petal-like sepals. They feature six free stamens and a three-lobed ovary, which is topped off by a sessile three-lobed stigma. The fruit is a capsule containing many seeds. Tulip flowers come in a wide array of colors, excluding true blue, ranging from pure white to shades of yellow, red, brown, deep purple, and almost black. Solid-colored tulips are called "self-colored," while streaked ones are known as "broken," a result of a virus infection that causes the main color to disappear in zones, allowing the flower’s underlying white or yellow to show through in streaks.

How do people grow tulips in gardens?

To grow tulips, plant the bulbs in the autumn in well-drained soil enriched with compost, at a depth of 4 to 8 inches. Although tulips will flower annually for a few years, they tend to deteriorate over time. Commercial growers will lift the bulbs after the flowers stop blooming and the foliage turns yellow. They then store the bulbs in a cool, dry place until it's time to replant them in the fall. There are almost 4,000 horticultural varieties that have been developed from Tulipa gesneriana and a number of other species and hybrids. Different classification schemes exist based on bloom time, flower shape, and plant size. Several wild tulip species are endangered due to habitat loss, overgrazing, overharvesting, and climate change.

Why are tulips important in history?

Tulips are historically significant for several reasons:

How do tulips spread and reproduce?

Tulips, as perennial plants, primarily spread and reproduce through their underground storage bulbs. These bulbs can be propagated, meaning they can be used to grow new plants. Additionally, tulips can reproduce sexually through seeds found in the capsule fruit that the plant produces. However, many garden tulips are mainly propagated through their scaly bulbs. This vegetative propagation allows for the preservation of desirable traits, like flower color, and can be faster than seed propagation.

tulip

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Field of tulips in various colors including purple, white, yellow, pink, and red, with green stems and leaves, set against a blurred garden background.

Close-up of a tulip with petals showing striking broken red and yellow streaks and patches, set against a blurred green background.

Close-up of a red tulip flower showing its yellow center, dark anthers, and delicate inner structures.

Rows of brightly colored tulips in full bloom stretch across flat farmland in the Netherlands under a blue sky.

Learn about the Netherlands' flower cross-breeding and cultivation program from the fields to auction

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Key People:: Carolus Clusius

Related Topics:: Tulip Mania: How a Plant Virus Fueled a Speculative Frenzy; Liliaceae

On the Web:: Iowa State University Extensiona and Outreach - Yard and Garden - All About Tulips (Oct. 28, 2026)

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tulip

plant

Also known as: Tulipa

Written and fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 28, 2026 •History

History

Tulip cultivation likely began in Persia (Iran) in the 10th century, and it eventually became a symbol of the Ottoman Empire. Tulips were introduced to the Western world by Augier Ghislain de Busbecq, the Viennese ambassador to Turkey, who wrote of seeing the plants in Edirne, Turkey, in 1551 and later sent some seeds to Austria. The arrival at Antwerp in 1562 of a cargo of tulip bulbs from Constantinople (now Istanbul) marked the beginning of the horticultural tulip industry in Europe.

An early recipient of these flowers was French botanist Carolus Clusius, who was an avid bulb grower and is often credited with the spread of other spring bulbs, such as hyacinths and irises, across Europe. In the 1590s he established a botanic garden at the University of Leiden and cultivated tulips there. In 1596 and again in 1598, broken tulips (virus-infected tulips that bloom in streaks or flames of color) were stolen from Clusius’s garden, and the genetically variable seeds of those purloined flowers became the foundation for a lively tulip trade. A speculative frenzy over tulips in the Netherlands in 1633–37 is now known as the Tulip Mania.

Venus's-flytrap. Venus's-flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) one of the best known of the meat-eating plants. Carnivorous plant, Venus flytrap, Venus fly trap

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Physical description

Tulips are perennial plants that die back after flowering and persist as an underground storage bulb. When it emerges in the spring, the tulip produces two to six thick bluish green leaves that are clustered at the base of the plant. The usually solitary bell-shaped flowers typically have three petals and three petal-like sepals. There are six free stamens (pollen-producing structures), and the three-lobed ovary is terminated by a sessile three-lobed stigma, which receives the pollen to fertilize the ovules. The fruit is a capsule with many seeds. Many garden tulips can be propagated only by their scaly bulbs.

garden tulipsTulips (*Tulipa* species) emerging from bulbs in the spring.

Tulip flowers occur in a wide range of colors except true blue—from purest white through all shades of yellow and red to brown and deepest purple to almost black. Generally, solid-colored tulips are spoken of as “self-colored,” while streaked blossoms are called “broken.” The phenomenon of color streaks in tulips is the result of a harmless virus infection that causes the self color to disappear in certain zonal patterns, leaving the flower’s white or yellow underlying color to show through in irregular streaks.

Major species and types

Almost 4,000 horticultural varieties have been developed from Tulipa gesneriana and a number of other species and hybrids. There are several different classification schemes based on the plants’ time of bloom, flower shape, and plant size. Among the tulips that appear earliest in spring are single-flowered and double-flowered early types. Tulip types that bloom in mid-season include Mendels and Darwins. Late-blooming tulips are the largest class, with the widest range of growth habits and colors. Among them are Darwins, breeders, cottage, lily-flowered, double late, and parrot types. Other cultivated species include Albert’s tulip (T. alberti), T. batalinii, lady tulip (T. clusiana), T. humilis, flax-leaved tulip (T. linifolia), T. pulchella, candia tulip (T. saxatilis), woodland tulip (T. sylvestris), and T. turkestanica.

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Although cultivated tulips are abundant and popular, a number of wild species are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Habitat loss, overgrazing by livestock, overharvesting, and anthropogenic climate change are the major factors driving the population declines for many of these species. Several tulips are listed as critically endangered and are at high risk of extinction, including the Albanian tulip (T. albanica), the Gumushanian tulip (T. gumusanica), T. akamasica, T. bactriana, T. dianaeverettiae, and T. uzbekistanica.

Cultivation

Tulips flourish in any good soil but do best in well-drained loam. The bulbs are usually planted in autumn at a depth of 10 to 20 cm (4 to 8 inches) below the surface in a soil enriched with compost. Though they will continue to flower annually for a few years, they tend eventually to degenerate. A common commercial practice is to lift the bulbs after the flowers have ceased blooming and the foliage has turned yellow and then to store the bulbs in a cool dry place until replanting time in autumn. In general, tulips are remarkably free from attack by garden pests.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.

tulip

History

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Physical description

Major species and types

Cultivation